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Rack mounting six packs of MacPro
The new MacPro is certainly a powerful device but Apple couldn’t have designed a computer harder to mount in a rack if they tried. The Mini looks purpose built for rack mounting compared to the new MacPro.
We have a 14 machine Episode cluster made up of 8 core Xserves that is plenty fast, but I’d guess would be twice as fast with 14 of these new MacPros.
I’m dying to see what Sonnet and the like come up with to rack mount these.
Lining them up in a row on a shelf would make it hard to access the back and would need quite a lot of headroom for all that hot rising air. Laying them down with external fans across the back to draw air front to back might work. You would need space to reach in to access the cables and power. In the end it would take up far less space than our Xserves but is not an out of the box solution as far as mounting goes.
John
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24 Replies
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From the demo, it shows they actually rotate 180 degrees or more to expose the i/o ports. Although you’d have to allow some play in your cabling. Not sure how that will work. But maybe it grinds coffee, too?
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If you look at wine racks you can get some design inspiration
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My guess is a shelving system with the shelves being made of metal grate so that the computers can suck air from the bottom.
Since they are a smaller I’m assuming you can fit a lot more computers into a smaller space.
I don’t think laying them down is a good idea since the power button and cord outlets are on the side.
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Or maybe this.
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Plugging in cables would be a mess.
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They’d be accessible without having to spin the thing around though. You could get a good cable management system so they’re not all hanging lose. Obviously you’d want a much sturdier strap (metal support).
I’d think ideally the key needs might be:
On the side for proper air flow and efficient use of space.
Open to have access to the cables which would be on the side rather than back or front.If you have them upright you then have to worry about clearance for the air flow and the cables, either back or front, are going to be awkward.
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The new server room:
A Mobile Server Room:
Tim
Apple XRAID, XServe, 2008 2×3 GHz Quad-Core MacPro, Macbook Pro, XSAN, Dell Studio xps PC’s
FCP Studio (7), AVID Media Composer, Adobe Production Premium, Maxon Cinema 4d, AJA Kona 3, Flanders Scientific Monitors, Panasonic HPX250’s, Kessler Crane, Glidecam…..
Beer fridge fully loaded. -
You’re onto something.
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Think of Doc Brown loading a plutonium canister into the Deloreon, 1985 version …
Doug D
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I like the horizontal approach but with breakout panels at the back so you plug everything into the Mac then slide it in. All the connections would be present at the back. The last trick would be the on/off button which would need a front button connected to a lever contraption much like the Mini cases have.
Any device connected would also need to be rack mounted like the Promise SanLink in this case. These could be grouped together separately or under each row in an alternating fashion.
Looking forward to building my own Warp core.
John
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